• Journal of the Korean Society of Combustion
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.23-31
• /
• 2017

Large-scale fuel tanks emit massive amount of hardly-combustible VOC mixtures which are light hydrocarbon species in dilution with nitrogen and carbon dioxide. We have developed a lab-scale burner to combust those VOC mixtures by use of a turbulent partially-premixed flame as a pilot flame. For a higher HC treatment ratio, the mixture gases were reformed by a rotating arc plasma device. The results showed that the nitrogen mole fraction and the injecting speed of the VOC mixture influence on the performance of the burner. It was also found that the size of the pilot flame and the power supplied to the plasma device determine the overall HC treatment ratio and the concentrations of CO and NOx in the exhaust gas.

• 한국연소학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2015.12a
• /
• pp.73-74
• /
• 2015

Synthesis gas such as hydrogen and carbon monoxide was produced from $CH_4/oxygen$ mixture using insulated pressurized porous media combustor. Experimentally, two cylindrical SiC foams with the different pore density were piled up in a quartz tube and fully premixed mixture was supplied in the axial direction. After stabilizing fuel-rich flame at the interface of the two foams at several pressure conditions, mole fractions of synthesis gases were measured by gas chromatography. Heat recirculation through the inner foam structure could extend the flow velocity of stable region over the laminar burning velocity. As the pressure increased, the rich flammability limit, $H_2/CO$ ratio, and module M increased.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.41-48
• /
• 2015

In the automotive industry, it is required to reduce weight of the car and improve fuel efficiency. Competitive pricing is also a very important issue. That's why application of welded steel tube is increasing in order to produce a vehicle with a competitive price. Also, hydroforming technology is asking more and more for thinner tubing to realize to a lighter vehicle design. Steel tube is produced through a multi-stage process called roll forming. In that case, bucking and work hardening should be considered key forming technology is to prevent buckling and minimize work hardening during steel tubing for hydroforming To prevent buckling, it is required to optimize forming process in order to minimize stretching in edge sections and hold tightly cross-section during welding. And to minimize work hardening, it is needed to know the proper process to avoid reforming.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.32 no.6
• /
• pp.534-541
• /
• 2021

In this study, a novel microwave-matrix reformer was proposed to convert CH₄, which is a major component, to a high quality hydrogen energy. And to identify this performance, it was investigated for O₂/C ratio, steam feed amount and reformed gas recirculation which are affected for methane conversion and product gas yield. Through the parametric screening studies, optimal operating conditions were that O₂/C ratio, steam feed amount and recirculation rate were 1.1, 10 mL/min and 30 L/min. In this conditions, CH₄ conversion was 68.1%, H₂ selectivity 77.2 and H₂/CO ratio 2.62 which are possible applying SOFC stack for RPG (residential power generator).

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.341-347
• /
• 2010

In this study, the efficiency of a solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system with a steam reformer or prereformer was analyzed under various conditions. The main components of the system are the reformer, SOFC, and water boiling heat recovery system. Endothermic and exothermic reactions occur in the reformer and SOFC, respectively. Hence, the thermal management of the SOFC system greatly influences the SOFC system efficiency. First, the efficiencies of SOFC systems with a steam reformer and a prereformer are compared. The system with the prereformer was more efficient than the one with steam reformer due to less heat loss. Second, the system efficiencies under various prereformer operating conditions were analyzed. The system efficiency was a function of the heat requirement of the system. The efficiency increased with an increase in the operating temperature of the prereformer, and the maximum system efficiency was observed at $450^{\circ}C$ for a S/C of 2.0.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.40 no.12
• /
• pp.793-799
• /
• 2016

In a hybrid fuel cell system, low-temperature reforming technology, which uses waste heat as a heat source, is applied to improve system efficiency. A low temperature reformer is required to optimize geometry in low thermal conditions so that the reformer can achieve the proper methane conversion rate. This study analyzed internal temperature distributions and the reaction patterns of a reformer by considering the change of the shape factor on the limited heat supply condition. Unlike the case of a high temperature reformer, analysis showed that the reaction of a low temperature reformer takes place primarily in the high temperature region of the reactor exit. In addition, it was confirmed that the efficiency can be improved by reducing the GHSV (gas hourly space velocity) or increasing the heat transfer area in the radial direction. Through reacting characteristic analysis, according to change of the aspect ratio, it was confirmed that a low temperature reformer can improve the efficiency by increasing the heat transfer in the radial direction, rather than in the longitudinal direction.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.325-343
• /
• 2023

Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) have been attracting attention as energy conversion devices that can directly supply methanol liquid fuel without a fuel reforming process. The commercial polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) currently applied to DMFC are perfluorosulfonic acid ionomer-based PEMs, which exhibit high proton conductivity and physicochemical stability during the operation. However, problems such as high methanol permeability and environmental pollutants generated during decomposition require the development of PEMs for DMFCs using novel ionomers. Recently, studies have been reported to develop PEMs using hydrocarbon-based ionomers that exhibit low fuel permeability and high physicochemical stability. This review introduces the following studies on hydrocarbon-based PEMs for DMFC applications: 1) synthesis of grafting copolymers that exhibit distinct hydrophilic/hydrophobic phase-separated structure to improve both proton conductivity and methanol selectivity, 2) introduction of cross-linked structure during PEM fabrication to reduce the methanol permeability and improve dimensional stability, and 3) incorporation of organic/inorganic composites or reinforcing substrates to develop reinforced composite membranes showing improved PEM performances and durability.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.114-120
• /
• 2011

Fuel reforming technology for the fuel cell vehicles has been frequently applied to internal combustion engine for the reduction of engine out emissions. Since syngas which is reformed from fossil fuel has hydrogen as a major component, it has abilities to enhance the combustion characteristics with wide flammability and high speed flame propagation. In this paper, syngas was feed to a 2.0 liter SI engine with MPI to improve exhaust emissions under cold start and early state of idle condition. Syngas fraction is varied to 0%, 10%, 25%, with various ignition timings. Exhaust emission characteristics and the exhaust system temperature were measured to investigate the effects of syngas addition on cold start. Result showed that HC emission could be dramatically reduced due to the fact that syngas has $H_2$ and no HC as components. The amount of $NO_x$ emission was decreased with the increase of syngas fraction. Because the dilution effect of $N_2$ and the retard of ignition timing reduces the peak combustion temperature inside the cylinder. Exhaust gas temperature was lower than that of gasoline feeding condition. Retarded ignition timing, however, resulted in increased exhaust gas temperature approximated to gasoline condition. It is supposed that the usage of syngas in an SI engine is an effective solution to meet the future strict emission regulations.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
• /
• v.19 no.5
• /
• pp.7-12
• /
• 2015

Hydrogen is usually produced by using syngas generated by the fuel reforming for natural gas so far. The further process is needed for increasing the hydrogen yield of syngas. However, the process for upgrading the hydrogen yield is accompanied by additional energy sources and economic costs. Thus related studies on the method for using as a mixture in itself have been conducted in order to utilize more efficiently syngas. The effect on the engine performance for methane/syngas mixture of 30kW spark ignition gas engine for power generation has been investigated in this study. As a result, it was found that the combustion phenomena such as the maximum in-cylinder pressure and crank angle at that time have been improved by methane/syngas mixture. Through these, fuel conversion efficiency could be enhanced by about 98% of methane/hydrogen mixture and $NO_x$ emissions could be reduced by about 12% of methane-hydrogen mixture.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.29 no.5
• /
• pp.528-532
• /
• 2007

The generation of high-purity hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuels is essential for efficient operation of fuel cell. In general, most feasible strategies to generate hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuels consist of a reforming step to generate a mixture of $H_2$, CO, $CO_2$ and $H_2O$(steam) followed by water gas shift(WGS) and CO clean-up steps. The WGS reaction that shifts CO to $CO_2$ and simultaneously produces another mole of $H_2$ was carried out in a two-stage catalytic conversion process involving a high temperature shift(HTS) and a low temperature shift(LTS). In the WGS operation, gas emerges from the reformer is taken through a high temperature shift catalyst to reduce the CO concentration to about $3\sim4%$ followed to about 0.5% via a low temperature shift catalyst. The WGS reactor was designed and tested in this study to produce hydrogen-rich gas with CO to less than 0.5%.